Kenyan banks are focusing on mobile banking to lower costs and build new revenue streams after the government capped commercial lending rates, but they face several years of work to recover from the hit to profitability, bankers and analysts said.

Italy has moved to crack down on the widespread exploitation of farm workers with tough new penalties for abuses to which immigrants from Africa and South Asia are particularly vulnerable.

Thais are crowding shopping malls and department stores to stock up on black clothes, as they begin a year of mourning for beloved King Bhumibol Adulaydej that could end up dampening consumption in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

Canada's central bank maintained its key lending rate at 0.5 percent Wednesday, saying domestic growth is likely to be weaker than expected this year despite a projected up-tick in the global economy.

Saudi Arabia attracted massive investor demand of about $67 billion on Wednesday for its first international bond offer, as the world's top crude exporter allayed concern about the impact of low oil prices on its finances.

Two international airlines have announced plans to suspend flights to the Nigerian capital Abuja by next month due to falling demand as a currency crisis in Africa's top economy deepens.

China won the bulk of its complaint against the United States in a ruling on Wednesday by a World Trade Organization dispute panel, after challenging US rules on "dumping" of goods.

A multi-million-dollar racket that used fake Indian call centres to trick US citizens into paying bogus tax bills may be the tip of the iceberg, with police warning similar scams could be operating across the country.

SAUDI petrochemical giant SABIC on Wednesday reported a 6.8 percent drop in net profit for the quarter ended September 30, compared with the same period last year.

BRITAIN'S jobless rate held at 4.9 percent in the three months to the end of August, official data showed Wednesday, signalling little impact thus far from the shock Brexit vote.

Political stalemate and the conflict rocking Libya are preventing the North African country from taking advantage of its vast oil resources and pushing the economy towards collapse, experts say.

Chinese growth stabilised in the third quarter, data showed Wednesday, as ample credit and hot property markets propped up the world's second-largest economy.

A modest recovery in oil prices falls short of filling budgetary gaps in crude-exporting Gulf countries, the International Monetary Fund said, stressing the need to cut spending.

German industrial firms recorded a sharp uptick in orders in August, official data showed on Thursday, outdoing analyst forecasts and reducing fears of an autumn slowdown in Europe's biggest economy.

Vietnam and Iran pledged Thursday to boost future trade to $2 billion, as Tehran seeks to jump-start its sputtering economy after crippling international sanctions were lifted this year.

Norway plans to spend a record amount of its oil riches next year -- an election year -- to stimulate its economy hit hard by oil price weakness, a budget bill presented Thursday showed.

Protectionism's rise in Europe and the United States is pushing the world's economic leaders toward a delicate balancing act: defending globalization but acknowledging the pain that sometimes comes with it.

Shares in Japanese IT giant Fujitsu soared Thursday on news it is considering merging its struggling personal computer division with China's Lenovo, the world's biggest PC maker.

German new car sales increased sharply in September for the second month in a row, official data showed on Wednesday. The KBA transport authority recorded 298,002 new cars on the road in September, an increase of 9.4 percent over the same month in 2015.

Sri Lanka's cash-strapped national carrier said Wednesday it will pay a penalty for cancelling leases on four Airbus A350s, with official sources putting the figure at about $115 million.